Others' Mistakes
by Samantha14
Summary: AU. Jess is a goody-two-shoes Gilmore. Rory is a bad-girl Mariano. Everything else proceeds as planned. Set in early season two.
1. October 8, 1984

Title: Others' Mistakes  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
Summary: AU. Jess is a goody-two-shoes Gilmore. Rory is a bad-girl Mariano. Everything else proceeds as planned. Set in early season two.  
A/N: Ooh. My first AU in a while. I like it. I hope you do too. More to come very soon.  
Rated: T 'cause I like expletives.

* * *

_October 8, 1984_

* * *

Jimmy Mariano leaned against an outside hospital wall, a cigarette dangling from his fingers. His wife of four months was inside, sprawled on a bed, screaming. He'd tried to be helpful to her; he'd rubbed her back, gotten her ice, everything her older brother had told him to do. But it wasn't enough, and he'd gotten kicked out of the room.

Jimmy shook his head. What kind of life was this? He'd only known Liz for ten months, just long enough to fall in love and then back out again, just long enough to get her pregnant. They'd only gotten married because Liz's older brother had found out about the pregnancy, and threatened Jimmy's life if they didn't get married.

He didn't think it would last long, though. As a matter of fact, he had a sneaking suspicion that the second he saw the baby, he was going to run like the wind in the opposite direction.

* * *

Christopher Hayden was bored.

He'd been watching _Quincy_ earlier, but that had bored him as well, so he was currently throwing a tennis ball against the glass wall of his parent's pool house. He knew that he would be in deep shit if the ball were to penetrate the wall, where it would most likely bounce into the water below and splash his older sister, currently pretending to write a paper at a table poolside.

But since he was only throwing the ball gently, he didn't really think that was going to happen. Instead, he figured he would throw the ball about twenty more times, before finally becoming totally bored out of his mind, at which point, he would return to his room and try to call his girlfriend, who was currently pregnant and demanded nightly phone calls from the one who impregnated her.

* * *

Dr. Cutty swiftly traveled from one bed to the next, hardly believing what had transpired. On the one day he had the ward to himself, with a promise that every mother-to-be was far enough from delivery to not make any difference, he had not one, but _two _deliveries impending. First, from Lorelai Gilmore, who had shown up in the emergency room three hours ago, scared and parent-less, refusing to go back to her parents' doctors; second, from Liz Mariano, a visiting New Yorker, who refused to go to the hospital in Stars Hollow, which was too small for her taste.

"Ten centimeters," he declared, coming from between the knees of one girl and discarding his gloves before sliding over to the next. His second nurse placed a new pair of gloves on him, allowing him to sigh and announce, again, "Ten centimeters dilated." He threw off his gloves and placed his hands on the knees of the girl in front of him. "Get ready to push," he said, and then glanced at the other girl. "Both of you."

* * *

Liz had no idea what was happening. The girl in the bed less than ten inches away from her seemed to be in her same predicament, however. Luckily, though there was a shortage of obstetricians, there was a surplus of anesthesiologists, and Liz could feel nothing from the waist down, and barely felt lucid from the waist up.

Of course, that could have been the quart of wine she'd devoured during dinner with her father and older brother, and not the epidural.

Either way, she didn't like the word "push". That meant work. And work was one thing Liz Danes Mariano absolutely could not stand.

* * *

Lorelai Gilmore stared at the man at the end of her bed, scared out of her fucking mind. Her words, too. Those words just kept floating through her mind, in the air in front of her eyes, coming out of others' mouths. She wasn't entirely sure what all this "giving birth" entitled - the most she could tell you was what she'd learned from TV and movies, and she figured that most of that was outrageous lies.

She glanced at the woman in the bed next to her. Her eyes were half-closed with pleasure, and she looked remarkably like Lorelai had seen her friends look during pot-filled evenings. Lorelai wondered if that was the anesthesia doing that. Her anesthesia hadn't worked that well. She wished she could have some of whatever her companion had gotten.

* * *

Margaret Smith was new. It was her first day at work. Unfortunately, she was an obstetrics nurse. And there was only one obstetrician on work tonight. And only one other nurse. And two impending deliveries.

Marge felt like the teenager lying in bed next to her. So, feeling akin to the girl, she left Dr. Cutty at the foot of the bed and grabbed the girl's hand.

* * *

Lorelai delivered first, and the older, more jaded nurse moved from Liz's side to pick up the child and deposit her under the warming lamp where the babies were cleaned. The nurse glared at Marge, who was beaming at Lorelai and squeezing her hand.

Dr. Cutty snapped the nurse back to attention, and she ran back to Liz's side, where Liz quickly delivered. The doctor neglected to announce the sex of either child, which neither mother thought strange, one being supremely inebriated and the other being extremely frightened. The older nurse deposited the second child next to the first and then responded to a page, rushing from the delivery room on Dr. Cutty's heels, downstairs to the emergency room where a third delivery was impending.

Marge, suddenly alone in the delivery room, moved to the warming lamp and began cleaning the babies off. Unfortunately, she had been paying no attention, and didn't know which child belong to which mother. And there was a significant difference between the two - namely the sex.

Flustered and suddenly worried, Marge picked up the now clean infant boy and laid him on Lorelai's chest, before doing the same with Liz and the little girl.


	2. October 8, 2000

Title: Others' Mistakes  
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Some dialouge ripped off of "Rory's Birthday Parties."  
Summary: AU. Jess is a goody-two-shoes Gilmore. Rory is a bad-girl Mariano. Everything else proceeds as planned. Set in early season two.  
A/N: Yeah, it's been forever. And the real story hasn't even started yet. This is more of backstory. Hopefully there'll be more up soon, but you never know. (If you want a really good excuse, check my bio) Thanks for all the reviews! Oh, and the characters will be OOC--AUs are like that.

* * *

Lorelai Elizabeth Mariano was one fucked up little girl. Her father had disappeared the day she was born, leaving her with a mother who had no clue what she was doing. Eventually, Laura Beth's mother gave up, which just made it worse. Laura Beth tried to be the responsible one for about eight years.

October 8, 2000 was the day Laura Beth died.

A number of things contributed to her demise. One was that her mother, who had seemed remarkably sober in the week leading up to Laura Beth's birthday, suddenly stumbled home two nights before, babbling incoherently and leading a bulky body behind her. That bulking body showed up in Laura Beth's doorway at five the next morning, becoming the sixth one in as many months to do so. This time, it was harder to fight him off, and when Liz heard her screams, she responded by proclaiming her daughter a slut and throwing her out of the house, which was starting to occur with alarming frequency. Another thing was that her best friend, Catherine Troi, dragged her to her first big party, which just happened to be across the state line in Jersey, and promptly abandoned Laura Beth to make out with her boyfriend. The last and final thing, however, was that Laura Beth met Joseph Haller, an extremely good looking, suprisingly sober, college aged boy sitting on a couch.

Laura Beth promptly struck up a conversation with him, believing him to be one of the only sane ones at the party. She had always been friendly, and prided herself on her ability to strike up conversations with strangers. She attributed this to the endless string of people appearing at her breakfast table from her mother's bed.

"What's your name?" he asked a few minutes into the conversation.

"Laura Beth. What's yours?"

"Laura Beth?" he repeated, raising his eyebrows and ignoring her question. "You certainly don't look like a Laura Beth."

She blushed and tugged at the plunging neckline of the mini-dress Cat had forced her to wear. "Well, my real name's Lorelai Elizabeth."

"Lorelai, huh? Well, Lorelai, whaddya say we go get something to drink?" He smiled, a lopsided smile, and she could feel herself giving into him.

Laura Beth went with him to get a drink. Then Laura Beth took a hit of Esctasy from him, and Laura Beth went upstairs to an empty bedroom with him. It was after her second beer but before the first joint that she ceased to exist.

"Lorelai, Lorelai, Lorelai, Lorelai." He repeated her name over and over again, causing her to giggle and try to clamp her hand over his mouth.

"That's not my name," she protested, giggling more. He leaned over and kissed her.

"Well, it sure as hell isn't Laura Beth."

"Oh yeah? And what's so special about Joseph?" She made her voice higher, and rolled her eyes after saying his name.

He leaned over and kissed her again, causing her to resume her giggling. He then started repeating her name again, this time slurring it.

She tried to do the same to his name, but failed miserably, and descended into laughter.

"Rory!" he screamed suddenly.

"Ew," she said softly.

"Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory, Rory!"

She half-heartedly pushed him, and then kissed him. "You're a good kisser," she said after they separated.

"I'm good at other things, too," he said, nuzzling her neck.

She giggled as he slowly eased her back onto the bed.

Two hours later, Rory was huddled on the edge of the bed, her knees at her chin, rocking back and forth. Joey, only half dressed, was lounging on the bed, his third joint clenched in his fingers.

Cat burst through the door, and, seeing Rory, said, "Finally!" As she walked towards her, she realized that something was wrong with the other girl. She turned on Joey.

"What's wrong with her?"

He shrugged. "She's paranoid when she's high."

"She's high?" Cat practically shrieked.

"One tab of E and two joints."

"Oh my God!" Cat rushed to her friend and tried to make her stand up. Rory waved her off and continued rocking. "Oh, come on, Laura Beth, we need to go. Laura Beth," Cat pleaded, gently shaking Rory's shoulder.

Rory mumbled something, but it was muffled by her hair hanging in her face.

"What? Laura Beth, I can't understand you. Speak up."

She mumbled something again, and Cat turned to Joey. "What's she saying?"

"She's not Laura Beth anymore."

"Well, who the hell is she?"

"Rory."

* * *

At the same time, in a house a few states away, Jesse James Gilmore suddenly awoke. He glanced at his clock. Four. That meant he had exactly three minutes of sleep before his mother crawled into his bed and told him the story of his birth for the sixteenth time. He sighed. He really didn't need this. Granted, it was a Sunday, but he had plenty to do. Well...not really. He just had plans to hang out with Lane and Dean, and maybe some Chilton-ites would show up later in the day. But still. He was getting a little old for this birthday thing.

He had just made up his mind to tell his mother this when she edged his door open.

"Birthday boy," she sing-songed softly, tip-toeing into the room.

He immediately felt his resolve melting as he edged sideways in the bed.

"Happy birthday, baby boy," she said, sliding under the covers with him.

"Hey," he said, allowing her to link her arms through his elbow.

"I can't believe how fast you're growing up."

"Really? Feels slow." Sometimes he felt like he'd never get older, and he'd be stuck in high school forever.

"Trust me, it's fast," Lorelai said, patting his arm. "What do you think of your life so far?"

"I think it's goin' good."

"Any complaints?"

He thought for a second, and then said, "Mandatory school athletics could disappear and it'd be better."

"I'll get right on that."

They were both quiet for a second, and then Jess asked, "So do I look older?"

Lorelai patted his smooth cheek and then said, "Oh, yeah. You walk into Denny's before five, you've got yourself a discount."

"Good deal."

"So you know what I think?"

"Hardly ever."

She grinned into the dark and continued like she hadn't heard him. "I think you're a great, cool kid, and the best son a mother could have."

"You say that to all your children."

"Yes, but I only mean it with you," she retorted, then got back on track. "It's so hard to believe that exactly this time many moons ago, I was lying in exactly the same position--"

"Oh, no," Jess groaned, trying to pull the pillow out from under his head to block his ears. Lorelai stopped him and continued.

"Only I had a huge, fat stomach and big fat ankles and I was swearing like a sailor--"

"On leave," he reminded her.

"Right! On leave. And there I was--"

"In labor."

"And while some have called it the most meaningful experience of your life, to me it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite."

"And the girl next to you was stoned out of her mind."

"It's my story. The girl next to me told me she'd always thought she was having a boy, and she didn't have any girl names, but she always wanted to name her son Jesse James. It sounded like that name would piss my father off just enough, so I decided that was the right one."

"I love you, Mom."

"Shh. I'm getting to the part where your grandfather complains about his shoes."

Lorelai stayed just long enough to finish her story, and then she kissed Jess on the forehead, wished him a happy birthday again, and then left the room.

Jess didn't go back to sleep right away, and instead lay in bed thinking over the past year. He'd started his second year at Chilton a few months ago. He'd been assigned to even more projects with Paris Gellar and Louise Grant, mainly because they were alphabetically assigned. One night everyone had come over to Stars Hollow to do a project, and they'd eaten dinner and had discussions about books--Louise and Tristin Dugray had sat there, silent and bored, while Jess and Paris had gotten into a lively argument about the Beats versus the Brontes. Since then, he'd considered Paris an equal, and maybe a friend.

Sometimes, though, he was friends with Tristin. He had just the right amount of disrespect for authority, while still being hypocritical enough to look down on those less fortunate. Basically, Jess found Tristin stuck up, a little stupid, and hilarious. He would never count on Tristin for a literary discussion, but he could certainly count on him for a school prank and a little fun.

His best friend, though, was Lane Kim, whom he'd met in kindergarten at Stars Hollow Elementary. Mrs. Kim had considered him untrustworthy even then, being both a boy and the son of an unwed mother. Recently, though, she'd come around to him, and even left them alone a lot of the time. Lane had just recently gotten a crush on Todd Mullins, because, she said, he'd "grown out of his awkward years." It had then been Jess's job to befriend Todd, so that Todd could befriend Lane and then fall madly in love. Jess had failed, though, because Todd was a stupid idiot and he couldn't stand him. Instead, he'd befriended Todd's friend, the new kid from Chicago, Dean Forrester. Dean read Melville and listened to Nick Drake and became the final puzzle piece to their group. The only bad thing about him was that he was athletic, and in every school sport there ever was. But, since he didn't make Jess do them with him, Jess could let that go.

"Hey," Lorelai said, popping into Jess's room again and scaring the hell out of him.

"Jesus!" he screamed.

"Sorry," she said, not at all sorry. "Have you seen my slipper?"

"You didn't wear them down here."

"I didn't?" she asked, confused.

"No. Your feet were bare and cold as ice."

"Well, damn," she said. "Go back to sleep."

"I'll try," he said pointedly.

"Oh, you'll do just fine." She kissed his forehead, and then smoothed down his hair. "Goodnight, babe."

"'Night, Mom."

With that, Lorelai smiled and left the room.


	3. September 28, 2001

Title: Others' Mistakes  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
Summary: AU. Jess is a goody-two-shoes Gilmore. Rory is a bad-girl Mariano. Everything else proceeds as planned. Set in early season two.  
A/N: Hee hee. This story is kinda fun to write. I had some big words prepared, but they've all escaped me. Jess, so far, is not completely to my liking. He will be a little more fleshed-out and Jess-while-still-being-a-Gilmore-like in the next few chapters. Rory is wonderful. I love writing her. She's scarily screwed up and just fabulous. Um, there's an Almost Famous reference that was originally Donnie Darko, but Donnie Darko was released in theaters the same time this chapter is set, so novideos of it yet. Also, a teeny bit of foul/crude language. But you try writing a bad girl and her bad influences without them. Still. Enjoy.

* * *

Lorelai had always been a little worried about what her relationship with her son would do to him. How well-adjusted could a sixteen-year-old boy be who'd grown up with his mother every step of the way? That's why, when Luke pulled her aside one Friday afternoon in September, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey. Can I talk to you?" he asked, leaning over the counter and practically whispering as he poured her coffee.

"Um, sure," she said, taking a quick sip of her drink before hopping off the stool. She followed him into the store room, where he immediately said, "Jess came over to talk to me yesterday."

"Yeah?"

"He asked me how you tell a girl you like her."

"Really?" Lorelai asked, thrilled. So he wasn't gay after all!

"Yeah. And I talked to him and everything, but I thought you should know."

"You didn't have to tell me, Luke. What you say's between you and him. He looks up to you."

Luke smiled quickly, and then said, "Yeah. About that. I was thinking--I wouldn't mind having someone help out over here, you know, during the rush and everything. Do you think Jess would be interested? I mean, I'd pay him and everything."

"Huh. I dunno. You'll have to ask him."

Luke smiled again. "Okay, I will. Thanks, Lorelai." He turned to leave, and Lorelai caught his arm.

"No, Luke, thank you. You're a wonderful influence for him, I think."

Luke's eyes lit up, but he almost immediately cleared his throat and gazed down at the floor. "Whatever," he said gruffly. "You want some more coffee?"

"Sure," she said, before following him from the room.

--

Cat was starting to get worried. Sure, she'd seen some good girls change into partiers, but never so quickly or so complete. Laura Beth--or Rory, as she preferred to be called--was hardly ever at school anymore, it seemed. And whenever Cat tried to find her, she always seemed to be at Joey's place. Until one day, towards the end of September the next year, when Cat skipped school to head Rory off at the pass, and discovered that she wasn't at Joey's--and worse, Joey hadn't seen her in a week. Joey didn't seem to care, given that he said, "I don't give a flying fuck." Cat left his apartment, disgusted and worried. Where could she be? There was no telling. She'd quickly been pulled down into a world of drugs and alcohol and, though she hadn't said anything to Cat, most likely sex.

Cat didn't find Rory that day, but the next morning, a Saturday, she was sitting on Rory's stoop when the other girl finally showed up. She was wearing a skirt and shirt so small that she might as well have been naked, her eyes were bloodshot, and her breath was frightfully strong.

Cat immediately embraced her friend, who pushed her off and said, "I'm not into lesbos. At least not for under a couple hundred dollars." She laughed at her joke, a high laugh that Cat had never heard before.

"God, Laura Beth, you look really messed up. Are you okay?"

"I'm _fine_. I've even got money," she said, pulling out a wad of cash and waving it in front of Cat's face.

"Oh my God. Are you a hooker?" Cat practically shrieked, trying to grab the money out of Rory's hand.

Rory snatched her hand away and bared her teeth, and then giggled. "Of course I'm not a hooker. I'm just imitating Julia Roberts in her breakthrough role. Too bad Richard Gere doesn't pay as much in real life." She giggled again, and then bypassed Cat to enter her building. Cat tried to grab her arm, but Rory wrenched it away and slammed the front door behind her.

"I'll tell your mother!" Cat yelled after her, but she knew it was useless. Liz would probably praise Rory for bringing home money.

In fact, Liz had no clue that Rory was as bad off as she was. She always made great care to make herself presentable enough to her mother, though her mother was seldom any more sober than she was.

"I'm home," she called cheerfully as she entered the apartment, a tweed coat tied firmly closed around her barely-there clothes.

"Hey, Laura Beth," Liz called drunkenly from her room. "Do you have any condoms? I'm having a party tonight."

"Oh, Mother," Rory said, entering her own room and digging for her least favorite box. "Are you going to give out favors?"

"Ha, ha," Liz said, stumbling into Rory's room and holding her hands out for the box. "Thank you," she said as Rory threw them to her. "By the way, I need you to either get out or stay locked in your room all night, okay?"

"Whatever, Mother," Rory yelled, before slamming her door.

--

Jess, Lane, and Dean were sprawled on the floor in front of the couch in the Gilmore living room, watching a movie. Lane was in between the two boys, and Jess kept shooting glances at her. He was so close to her, he could feel the warmth from her arm. He was trying to avoid touching her, while still sort of touching her. He was so preoccupied, he didn't realize Dean was staring at him for a full ten minutes.

When he glanced up and caught Dean's eyes, the other boy raised his eyebrows and mouthed, "What are you doing?"

Jess shook his head and turned to face the TV again, but he had no clue what was going on. He tried to feign interest, but he could feel Dean watching him. He raised his head to face Dean.

"What's going on?" Dean mouthed above Lane's head.

"Nothing. Watch the movie," Jess mouthed back, complete with pointing motions towards the screen.

"Come on. Tell me," Dean mouthed.

Jess sighed, and Lane suddenly spoke up.

"I realize that some people do not respect the magic that is Almost Famous, but I didn't think I was watching it with those people. Could you two please stop holding conversations over my head and either watch Billy Crudup freak out or go into the other room?"

Wordlessly, both boys stood up and walked into the kitchen.

"Thank you!" Lane called after them, before turning back to the movie.

"What's your glitch, Gilmore?" Dean asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

Jess sighed and fell into a chair at the table. "Promise you won't laugh?" he asked, his face in his hands.

"What?" Dean asked, sitting in a chair across from Jess.

"Promise you won't laugh?" Jess repeated, raising his head.

"About what?"

"What I'm about to tell you, bag boy," Jess said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll promise like you promised never to call me that."

"Alright. Don't promise not to laugh. Just...promise not to tell her."

"Who?"

"Lane."

"Tell her what?"

"That...I like her."

Dean looked confused for a minute, until Jess clarified.

"I like her...like _that_."

"Oh. Oh!" Dean looked surprised for a minute, and then grinned. "Believe me, she has no clue." He clapped a hand on Jess's shoulder. "We always thought you swung the other way. You know, batted for the other team." Dean made a move like he was swinging a bat, and clucked his tongue when he hit the imaginary ball. "You know, since you don't play for this one."

Jess buried his head in his hands again. "I knew I shouldn't've told you."

Dean shook his head. "No, man, I'm glad you did. I was getting tired of not having something to make fun of you with."

Jess groaned.

"Aw, relax, I'm just kidding. I've got plenty of things to make fun of you with. I was thinking about calling you diner boy. You know, 'cause you're gonna work at Luke's."

Jess just let his head fall on the table with a clunk.

With that, Lane entered the kitchen, and said, "Okay, so, I decided I didn't wanna watch the movie by myself. It's no fun unless we're all singing Tiny Dancer together." She settled herself at the table, the seat between Dean and Jess. "So. What's going on?"

"Jess has a crush."

Jess groaned, leaving his head on the table.

"Really?" Lane asked, interested. "On a girl?"

"Yep."

Lane grinned. "We always thought you swung the other way."

Jess suddenly stood up from the table, hands clenched into fists. "No, I didn't 'swing the other way.' I like you, Lane, and I've liked you for years."

"Oh," Lane said quietly.

"Now I'm going to my room to die of embarassment. When the movie's over, let yourselves out." Jess entered his room and slammed the door behind him, leaving Lane and Dean staring at each other.

"Did you know?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "No, not really. He just told me, though."

"Huh."

--

The party was over, and all the guests were gone. Liz kicked a few beer cans out of her way and continued stumbling to her room. As she passed her daughter's room, she stopped and listened. Laura Beth was listening to that weird rock crap again. The Who or something like that. Seriously, what kind of a name was The Who? Or Garbage--Garbage had been on earlier. Once, when Liz had yelled at Laura Beth to turn that garbage down, the girl had just laughed hysterically and said, "Why, Mother. I didn't realize you knew this band's name." Liz had almost slapped her for her insubordination. She hadn't; she couldn't remember why not now.

What was that? Was that...a giggle? Liz listened harder. Surely her daughter wasn't giggling. And if she were, what was she giggling about?

Yep. It was a giggle, followed by an admonition: "Oh, Tom, stop."

_Tom_? What the hell was going on? Liz pushed the door open, to see her daughter underneath her latest boyfriend.

"Oh, this is too much!" Liz rushed to the bedside and slapped the girl, as Tom scrambled to get off and get dressed. "You slut! What the hell are you doing?"

"Giving Tom a good time, Mother. And it's not the first time, either. Obviously, he wasn't getting it somewhere else."

Liz slapped her again. "I can't believe my daughter is such a whore!"

Rory raised a hand to her cheek, and then spat out, "It takes one to know one!"

Liz lifted her hand, ready to strike a third time. She thought better of it, though, and lowered her arm. "I'm getting sick of this. Sick and tired, Laura Beth. You're leaving. You're going to your uncle's. Tomorrow." Liz started to leave the room behind Tom, who'd scrambled out already. "I mean it," she said right before she shut the door.

Rory, outraged beyond speaking, finally picked up a shoe and threw it at the closed door. "It's RORY!" she shrieked.


	4. September 29, 2001

Title: Others' Mistakes  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
Summary: AU. Jess is a goody-two-shoes Gilmore. Rory is a bad-girl Mariano. Everything else proceeds as planned. Set in early season two.  
A/N: Sorry it's taken so long. Life got in the way, you know. Plus I stopped watching Gilmore Girls, and writing, but then I suddenly had the desire to write again, and this chapter was almost through so it got finished first. And it's my first new chapter of the new year! Awesome!

Enjoy.

* * *

The next day, Rory was laying on her stomach across her bed, her feet kicked up in the air. Metallica was blaring from her stereo, and Howl by Allen Ginsberg was in front of her. She was taking a break from reading, however, and was staring out her window. A pigeon landed on the fire escape, and she wondered if they even had pigeons in Stars Hollow. 

Stars Hollow. What a horrible name. It was all...Stars Hollow-like. It was probably a perfect little town, with mothers and daughters who actually got along and people who said hello to you in the street and always knew your business.

Almost immediately, she hopped up and switched songs. Metallica was switched for Elvis Costello, a much softer kinda guy. The song was "This is Hell," and she decided to put it on repeat. Just in case her mother was listening, and hadn't gotten the message when Rory had screamed and thrown suitcases and her mother's belongings all around the apartment last night.

Speaking of her mother...

"Laura Beth?" Liz asked, knocking softly on the door. "I'm calling your uncle. Would you like to talk to him?"

"Oh, sure." Rory said, rolling her eyes and resettling herself across her bed.

"Really?" Liz asked, surprised.

"No!" Rory screamed, before picking up her book.

Liz exhaled sharply. "Fine! Be that way!" She kicked the door, and then Rory heard her leaving. It was hardly any time before she was back, though.

Liz threw Rory's door open and began attacking her full drawers. "You are leaving on the first train in the morning! I mean it!"

"Whatever!" Rory screamed.

Liz spun around to face her daughter. "This is ridiculous, Laura Beth! Can't you at least pack for yourself?"

"No!" Rory screamed. "And it's RORY!"

"No, it's not, goddammit. It's Laura Beth. Lorelai Elizabeth Mariano. I named you, and I can call you anything I like!"

"And next are you gonna say, 'I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it'?"

"I did bring you into this world, and I will take you out if you don't shut your ungrateful little mouth."

"Anything's better than Stars Hollow!"

"You better believe it, missy!" Liz threw a final handful of clothes into Rory's open suitcase. "Close it," she said, pointing. "Bring it into the hall. I'm sending you now."

"What about giving Luke some warning time?" Rory asked, getting up and trailing Liz out of her room.

"Two hours is long enough! Now get back in there and do what I told you to do!"

"And if I don't?" Rory asked, sounding more confident than she felt.

"I send you without clothes and you have to wear Luke's."

Rory made a face. She hardly remembered meeting her mother's older brother, but what she did remember was flannel shirts and kick-ass pie.

"Exactly. Now go!" Liz pointed one last time, and Rory actually lowered her head and shuffled back into her room.

--

It was the day after Jess's admission, and Lane and Dean were sitting at the group's table in Luke's--it was off to the side, and towards the back, away from the windows, and the prying eyes of Lane's mother.

Mrs. Kim, while almost to the point of trusting Jess, had no intention of ever trusting any other boys, especially Dean. She took particular distaste in Dean's long, floppy hair and his leather jacket. Jess's hair wasn't exactly short, but it was shorter than Dean's. Plus, sometimes he used gobs of gel and it stuck up, something that always caused Lane to laugh uproariously and Jess to swear he would never do it again. Jess also owned a leather jacket, and it was even a leather motorcycle jacket, but Mrs. Kim still trusted him.

Lane was picking at her chili fries, and Dean was staring into space, when Jess wandered over, sighed, and offered to refill their drinks. Both of his friends jumped, and came out of their respective reveries.

"Jess!" Lane cried. "Where have you been? I've been trying to call you since yesterday."

"Busy," he muttered, still staring at the table. "More Coke?" He didn't wait for their answer, just swept their cups from the table and left.

Lane slumped and looked at Dean. "I feel bad."

"You didn't do anything," he said, shaking his head. "You didn't know. No one knew."

"But shouldn't I at least have had an inkling? I mean, we thought he was gay!"

"Well, he never dated girls. And he never wanted to go with Tristin to find girls. And...he does act kinda gay."

Jess cleared his throat, and his friends sheepishly looked over at him, standing next to their table, clenching their refilled drinks in his hands, and seething.

"Jess--" Lane started, but was interrupted by Jess throwing the cups on the floor and fleeing the diner.

--

Rory had to sit on her suitcase to fasten it shut, because of the haphazard way her mother had thrown things into it. When it finally clicked shut, she started dragging it into the hallway. It was old-fashioned, and reminded her of something from the 50s, but it was the only suitcase they had. As she dropped it on the ground in front of the door, she noticed that her mother was pacing in the kitchen, the phone stuck between her ear and her shoulder. Curious, she edged closer, seeing what Lizzie would say to Luke about Rory coming now.

"Hey big brother!" she said cheerfully. "Are you at work?" She paused while Luke answered. "Well, I wasn't sure. I mean, maybe you got a helper so you weren't always doing it by yourself. Or maybe you got yourself a girl or something like that. You didn't, did you?" she asked, worriedly. "I didn't do anything. I was just thinking that maybe you'd like to spend some time with your niece. A lot of time, actually." She paused again, and sighed. "Of course I'm serious, Luke. No, it's not 'just like that'! I've thought about this, a lot. I just need a little help, Luke. She's getting too hard for me to handle. And so I thought I'd send her to you. Now." She winced as the phone was slammed in her ear, and then hung it up softly.

Rory scoffed. Her mother was incompetent at everything, it seemed, not just matters of the bed. She grinned, thinking of her triumph last night, and flounced back to her room.

--

Jess stomped all the way home, and slammed the door as he entered the house.

"Jess?" Lorelai called from the living room. She followed the sound of his stomping and caught him at the door to his room. "Hey. I wasn't expecting you home so early. I thought Luke needed you through the dinner rush."

Jess didn't respond, just dropped face down on his bed.

"Ah," Lorelai said, nodding. "I get it. He doesn't know you're here."

"Uh-uh." Jess moved his head against the bedspread in something that vaguely resembled a shake of the head.

"'Uh-uh' he does know you're here or 'uh-uh' he doesn't?"

"Doesn't," Jess said into his bed.

"Uh-huh," Lorelai said. "Well, babe, he's your boss. He needs to know."

Jess sat up suddenly and said, "Dean and Lane thought I was gay."

"Oh," Lorelai said, taken aback. "Um, I guess he could let it slide this time."

Jess groaned and resumed his place on the bed. Lorelai walked over and kissed him on the forehead. "I'll go talk to him right now."

"Thank you," Jess told his bed.

--

Lorelai burst into Luke's, a mother on a mission.

"Luke!" she called, when she didn't immediately see him. She glanced to her left, the kids' usual table, and saw Dean and Lane sitting there, Dean staring glumly at the table, Lane looking sheepishly at Lorelai. Lorelai glared before she realized what she was doing and headed for the stairs.

"Luke!" she called again, running swiftly up the stairs. She was just about to knock on the door when Luke pulled it open.

"What is it, Lorelai?" he asked, pulling it to behind him and leaning against it, arms crossed.

"Um, I just wanted to tell you that Jess won't be working today. He's...not feeling well."

Luke nodded. "Would that have anything to do with his little outburst earlier today?"

"What outburst?" Lorelai asked, craning her neck to try to see around Luke's frame to the apartment behind him. "Why'd you close your door?"

"Jess threw two drinks on the floor earlier," Luke said, ignoring Lorelai's second question. "I think something Lane said upset him."

Lorelai nodded. "That's exactly it! Jess said they thought--well, they thought he was gay."

Luke's eyes widened. "Oh, no."

Lorelai nodded again. "I know, it's terrible. I'm still pissed off. Can I go into your apartment to cool off? I'm afraid if I go downstairs I'll accidentally rip Lane's head off, and that wouldn't help anything."

"Um," Luke said, looking uncomfortable. "I don't know."

"Oh, come on, Luke, you don't want Mrs. Kim to come after me, do you?"

Luke looked torn for a minute, and then finally opened the door for Lorelai. She grinned, and walked past him into the apartment. She spotted the bags of groceries on the table and the air mattress shoved in the corner and spun around to look at Luke.

"Um, Luke? What's going on?"

"Nothing," he said, a little guiltily. Lorelai gave him a look, and he crumbled. "My niece is coming."

"Oh, cool! To visit?"

"No."

"Is your sister moving here?"

"No. She's...shipping Laura Beth out here. Today. Liz says she can't handle her anymore."

"Oh. And she's how old?"

"38 but not a day over 15."

"Your niece?"

"No, my niece is 16. She'll be seventeen in a couple of weeks though."

"Ugh." Lorelai made a face. "She'll be trouble."

"How do you know?"

"_I_ was trouble."

"She might not be as bad as you were."

"Hey. My parents didn't send me away."

"Oh, that's not Laura Beth's fault. That's all Liz's. She could never handle responsibility."

"Apparently not, since she's sending her kid to you. How are you supposed to help a screwed up teenage girl?"

Luke sighed. "I don't know. I was actually hoping...maybe you could help?"

Lorelai bit her lip. "I'll try my best. Oh, hey! You guys should come over for dinner tonight! Maybe Jess can get to her. Ooh! Lane could come over too!"

"I thought you didn't like Lane right now."

"Oh, it's just a misunderstanding. It'll blow right over. This is a dinner party! I'll call Sookie and see if she can cook. Oh, this is gonna be fun." Lorelai pulled out her cell phone and started dialing. "Gotta go if I'm gonna get this together in time. I'll see you later, Luke," she said, leaving the apartment.


End file.
